"It's okay." A gruff voice comes out of the body holding me. To my relief, it's a voice I recognize.

"Mizuki?" Where has he been this whole time?

"Indeed. I bet you'd like a shower, I'll take you to your room."

He says it so casually, like a concierge speaking to a hotel guest. "Mizuki, I…"

"Follow me." He commands, releasing my body then grabbing my hand. Yeah sure, like I have a choice.

"Hang on just a minute!" I say haughtily, though his pace remains persistent. "You can't just grab me, scare me, then drag me off! I'd like some answers!"

He keeps going. "It would appear that I can. You obviously don't want to be anywhere near whomever you just ran from, but you don't know this place at all. You'll want to relax, and you won't be able to if you don't have a room."

I have no response, I just follow. We weave through the dark labyrinth in silence. I look around, hoping for a hint of where Kazemasa might be, but I realize Mizuki is right. I don't know this place, and I would like a shower. The only good thing to happen during the walk is my tears stop. With any luck, they didn't stain my face.

Finally, we stop. Mizuki opens the door in front of us, and my eyebrows shoot up.

The darkness is gone, the room is bathed in light. Unlike the conversation room, this room is a deep red, from the walls to the amazingly thick carpet. The furniture is a picture of grandeur and comfort. The soft scent of jasmine wafts through the air. The Ritz is starting to pale in comparison. If the room is this great, I bet the bathroom is even better.

Sure enough, it is. There's a tub, large and luxurious, lined with candles and an array of expensive soaps. It's separate from the shower, which is equally huge with faucets on every side. I can think of nothing better than a 360 shower then a long soak in that tub. Well, almost nothing.

I'm about to strip when I realize Mizuki is still around. I could ask him to leave, but there's too much to know.

"Thank you for leading me here."

He nods. "Of course. I can tell you're wondering, and this room is here for such an occasion like this."

What occasion is that? Hell breaking loose while everyone involved tries with all their might to make it otherwise?

"You've probably figured out this is an underground hideout, one of a couple we have throughout the world. Sometimes, we have company such as yourself, and there's no reason for you not to be comfortable."

Oh, that occasion. "Who's 'we'?"

Mizuki shrugs. "You know, the guys of the ninja ambush, for lack of a better way of putting it."

"You have hideouts throughout the world?"

He shrugs again. "It's not important."

Of course it isn't. I slip off my disgusting shoes, hoping I haven't ruined the carpet. "Um, thank you for taking care of Kazemasa. How is he?"

Mizuki shows emotion for the first time since the studio. "He's fine, he's always fine. No need to thank me, just doing my job."

Kazemasa did say they all had different specialties, I guess Mizuki is the doctor. They'd need one, wouldn't they?

"Where is he, I'd like to see him afterwards."

Mizuki frowns. "That is not going to happen. You both need to rest."

Does he know? Oh who cares, I'm seeing Kazemasa one way or another.

"I don't want rest, I want to see Kazemasa after my shower. You said he was fine."

Mizuki shakes his head. "That doesn't mean you can see him."

He does know, but he's not going to stop me. I approach him slowly, puffing out like Kazemasa does. "Oh? You and what army is going to stop me?"

Mizuki stands in front of the door. "No army, I don't need an army to handle you."

RUDE!

Then it hits me. "Oh no, you're playing bodyguard, aren't you?"

He nods. "For now. I'll give you privacy, but I'll be right outside this door."

Defeated again. "Why did you grant such a ludicrous request? It's wrong. No one can tell me who I can and cannot see."

Confusion crosses Mizuki's different colored eyes. "What are you talking about? I was just told to make sure you don't leave this room. For your safety."

He doesn't know then? Well don't I feel sheepish. At least he's not against me, everyone else is.

"Alright, I'm going to shower." I really need to.

He nods again. "I'll be right outside." He turns and walks to the door, but pauses before he opens it. He peers back at me. "And, uh, don't worry too much. About Kazemasa. It'll be fine." With that, he opens the door and leaves.

As soon as it closes shut, I collapse. I can't explain it, I just sort of fall. Thankfully I hit this wonderfully soft carpet, but the minute I do, I cry. I cry for the change. I cry for the unfairness. I cry for the inevitable. I cry for Christophe, Yoshitsune, and Kazemasa. When I think I can cry no more, I then cry for myself. The love I feel is so strong, I figured it could overcome anything, but what is love compared to power? Or destiny? Eventually, the river of tears runs dry. Enough now. Get up. You need to pull yourself up. Use the strength you swear you've found.

And it takes every fiber of my being, but I do get up.

The lights are out. I've long since showered and changed into the clothes left for me (a kimono, of course it's a kimono, do I even have the damn thing on right?) and I try to sleep. Needless to say, it's not going well. With no windows in the room, I can't tell the time, and I can only assume my purse is still at the studio so I can't even check my cell phone for the time. I debate about attempting to leave, but I tried earlier and Mizuki wouldn't budge. Didn't matter what I did or said, he stood there like a guard at Buckingham palace yet somehow still managed to block my every move. I debated about trying to take him out or flirt my way past him, but both would have been futile. Instead, I lie on my side upon this exquisite bed and think about Kazemasa.

The agony on his face when he left, that wasn't because of his wound, it was because he knew what Yoshitsune was going to say. That's why he kissed my forehead; it was his way of saying goodbye. He's probably already resigned himself into thinking that's the end. But that can't be our goodbye! There's so much left to say, and I refuse to just accept this situation. Maybe I should try to knock Mizuki out…

With that, I roll to my other side to see if there's a lamp nearby, but what I find instead is a much bigger surprise.

"ENYA?!" I scream, holding the blankets up to my chin.

He cringes at the volume of my voice, then makes a swift shushing motion. He's just there, hanging out by the side of the bed, like he does it all the time.

"Enya, what are you doing here? I didn't even hear you come in!"

He chuckles. "You wouldn't have, would you? I am a ninja after all, I am one with the shadows." He ends this with a dramatic bow, then stands back up and winks at me.

I groan. "You're ridiculous."

More chuckles. "Well, even if I were just an average Joe, I doubt you would have heard me come in. You were so lost in thought I could have had a rave in this room and you wouldn't have noticed."

I put my hand over my eyes. "Enough with the exaggerating."

"Who's exaggerating? I was serious about that."

I take my hand away and look at him. He seems to have momentarily curbed his flirtatious nature, he actually does look serious.

"Okay, so maybe I was a little deep- hey wait a minute! Answer me! What are you doing here?"

His serious look stays. "Mizuki needed a break. Well, actually he could have stayed here all night, but I convinced him to let me take over."

I hold the sheets tight. "Why?" I ask, even though I have a decent idea and am suddenly feeling nervous.

He folds his arms. "Relax, I don't bite…unless you're into that." Another wink.

I glare at him; he frowns. "Sorry, that just kind of comes on its own. I didn't come here to make you feel uncomfortable, I came to help."

Now I'm curious. "I swear Enya, if you follow that up with anything involving 'womanly needs', I am going to mess you up."

He raises his eyebrows. "Well, not that I wouldn't enjoy that, but no. You want to be with Kazemasa, right?"

He has my full attention. "How did you know that?

"I think a better question would be who doesn't know that? The guys and I are highly trained professionals; we should have been the ones rushing to help him when he got shot. You reacted so quickly we were snails by comparison! You shocked us all, straight into a stupor just about. Your feelings for him became obvious then. If that weren't evidence enough, what you did to those two men to protect him was."

The thought of him and the others staring at my kill makes me uneasy. "You saw that?"

"We all did. We cleaned up your crime scene sweetheart, and boy, talk about a crime of passion."

I groan. "I'm sorry, that should have been my responsibility and no one else's."

He sits on the bed's edge and pats the top of my head. "Don't worry about it. We deal with stuff like that all the time. Now, do you want to see Kazemasa or not?"

I let go of the sheets and nod eagerly. "So much! Do you know where he is?"

"Indeed. I was bodyguarding him, and man, it's clear he's in pain. I've never seen him like that before. Oh sure, he tried to hide it, but some things can't be hidden."

My heart feels raw. I throw off the covers and get out of bed. Enya stands as well. "Where is he? Tell me, I'll find it. No sense in you getting in trouble."

Enya shrugs. "I'm in trouble already. I have no idea why Yoshitsune ordered me to keep you two apart, but that's one order I can't keep. He made it sound so final, and that's just depressing. I owe Kazemasa anyway, so it'll be worth whatever comes my way."

I'm torn between asking what happened and thanking him when he looks at the door suddenly. He grabs my hand. "Quickly, Mizuki will be back soon and Kazemasa's door won't be unguarded for much longer."

Out the door we go. I'm barefoot and reeling from excitement, but I match his pace. Through the darkness once more I go, but this time with confidence and drive.

Soon after, we stop at a door. Enya lets go of my hand. "Here you are. It'll be unlocked, just go in when you're ready. I need to get back to your room."

Before he can move, I grab him and give him a big hug. "Thank you Enya."

He's surprised, but he hugs me back. "Aww shucks, it was worth it for the hug alone."

He runs back the way we just came. I stand in front of the door, now nervous as hell. What do I hope to accomplish here? You know damn well you don't want to say goodbye, but he's used to it.

I shut off my thoughts. I'm just going to go in. Come what may.

I take a deep breath and open the door.